QEEE SESSION

QEEE Session on “Linear Data Structures and Applications - Data Structures and Algorithms” was organized by IIT Madras on 26th Aug, 1st and 2nd September 2016 under D2S (Direct to Student) Program with an objective to clarify the principles and process of Linear Data Structures which are primarily designed to solve interesting problems with elegance and efficiency.

Through Quality Enhancement in Engineering Education (QEEE), IITs provide quality technical education at par with the premier institutes. QEEE is piloted in real time through ICT and synchronous technology is used to allow for an integration of superior external scholastic inputs into current pedagogical practices. QEEE project is funded by MHRD, Government of India.

Prof. Dr. Supratim Biswas, IIT Bombay conducted the sessions. He introduced the participants to some of the time tested data structures. Mr. Manoj Kumar Yadav, Assistant Professor (CSE), coordinated the workshop at Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida as the Local Coordinator. The third semester students of CSE and IT attended the workshop.

Day 1: 26th August, 2016

Prof. Supratim started his lecture by giving an overview of Linear and Nonlinear Types of Data Structure and how to efficiently code the program block for the given problem. He emphasized the data structures are generally based on the ability of a computer to fetch and store data at any place in its memory, specified by a pointer - a bit string, representing a memory address, that can be itself stored in memory and manipulated by the program. Thus the linked data structures are based on storing addresses of data items within the structure itself. He concluded his lecture by solving the queries of the participants.

Day 2: 1st September, 2016

Dr. Supratim Biswas initiated the second day session with a brief recapitulation of the first day session and discussed the Linked List Programming and its importance over Array. He further explained Dynamic Memory Allocation. He laid emphasis on the following: During linked list programming, a list always has a reference to the first node, check whether your dynamic allocation of a node did succeed or not. Either return the head pointer, or use double pointer or reference to head pointer. Check whether you are dereferencing a NULL pointer. Check whether you are freeing a NULL pointer. Check whether you are freeing a node after its required use.

Day 3: 2nd September, 2016

Prof. Supratim Biswas initiated the third day session with a brief recapitulation of the first and second day sessions. He elaborated that Every Data Structure has their own Pros and Cons. He discussed the advantages of Linked List, like it is Dynamic in Nature so that when we do not know the number of elements to be stored then Linked List is a better Choice. He further demonstrated that Linked List Nodes in memory do not store in consecutive locations but still it maintains its linear fashion, so where the order of elements matters, it can be used for Stacks and Queues.

In the end he gave closing remarks on the Precautions to be observed while executing STACKS and QUEUES and answered the queries of the participants.

The sessions were very informative for the students of Computer Science & Engineering and Information Technology. Dr. Supratim Biswas used the traditional pen - paper presentation method along with Slides which totally grasped the attention of all the participants. The study materials and the practice questions provided in the course packs were highly useful.

Some Glimpses: